


It's Not You, It's Us

by lantia4ever



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Feels, Fluff and Angst, JARVIS ships WinterIron, M/M, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve is a bit of a jerk, Tumblr: imaginetonyandbucky, Winter Soldier is still around, prompt, starts as Steve/Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 07:36:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13290141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lantia4ever/pseuds/lantia4ever
Summary: Steve and Tony are in a relationship - until they're not. And then they are again. And then they're not...again. And again. And Bucky just doesn't get it - the arguments, the making up, the breaking up and on and on it goes. But they're his friends, so he does his best to keep them from biting each others' heads off and maybe actually staying happy together for more than a week.He didn't plan on falling in love with the engineer along the way.Written for ITAB prompt by cassiopeiaerinblack (tumblr)





	It's Not You, It's Us

**Author's Note:**

> _Prompt: Since prompts are open~ Maybe something with Bucky stealing Tony from Steve? Because I think, that they may be a really good as friends, but as couple they, actually, most of the time just suck. And I love Bucky being "the right one". (And maybe after re-watching CACW I'm in mood to hate Steve...)_
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> Hi everyone! In case you're in for some Bucky/Tony feels...and some cute fluff...eventually, you're in the right place ^^
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> Enjoy! <3

_“You shouldn’t drink so much coffee, Tony.”_

 

_“Have you eaten breakfast? Wait, have you eaten at all?!”_

 

_“That upgrade will wait until tomorrow, you know? It’s late already, let’s go to sleep.”_

 

_“That was completely unnecessary! Hulk was doing just fine in there, you could have hurt somebody! Hurt yourself! Why don’t you just listen to me?!”_

Sometimes, Bucky wondered just how big a portion of his brain did HYDRA fry completely with its treatment slash torture during the past eighty years.

Because sometimes he just didn’t understand things. Like smartphones and Facebook and the creepy all-knowing voice coming from the walls of the Avenger’s Tower.

But most of all, he didn’t understand Steve and Tony and their…relationship.

He got the memo – it’s not 1940 anymore and apparently dating is all different now. Somehow. Maybe? Because watching the two Avengers interact couldn’t be more confusing to him.

It’s not _all bad_. They do have those “sweetheart” moments in which nobody can doubt just how in love with each other they are.

Steve gives him that gentle, loving smile Bucky only ever saw him use when Peggy Carter was around. Tony always saves and closes his WIP project whenever Steve enters the workshop, giving his undivided attention to the supersoldier.

And then there are those stolen kisses during movie nights, the looks, the cuddles on the couch, the subtle hugs…touches. Bucky didn’t need to be a trained assassin to immediately notice that Tony in particular is very tactile with everyone - in an innocent manner of course - never missing an opportunity to clasp somebody’s shoulder, nudge them with his elbow, do a high-five or just brush along them. Always in people’s personal space but not in an imposing way.

To Bucky’s absolute surprise, this habit extended to him as well. Tony kept his distance at first, but once he got his hands on Bucky’s metal arm, he decided it’s safe to get his hands on the rest of him and started treating him the same way he treated the rest of the Avengers.

Steve, of course, is the target of Tony’s tactile side the most. Which is where things turn from good to confusing and all the way to kinda-really-bad.

Steve doesn’t like the extra attention in public, not even with just one more person around. Not that he’d hate it like enough to push the engineer away, but Bucky could be a walking brainless potato and he’d still recognize his best friend’s frown, followed by a raised eyebrow as the ‘okay, I’ll let you do this, but I’m uncomfortable and I’m judging you right now’ face. Tony ignores that and if anything, he cuddles him even more which results in one very grumpy Steve Rogers.

It doesn’t end there.

Apparently, Steve doesn’t like a lot of things about Tony and while he tolerates the touching, the rest of the issues he’s quite vocal about. Tony don’t do this, Tony don’t do that…it’s all Bucky hears whenever he happens to be around the couple. He’s never seen Steve deploy his mean look of clear disapproval and disappointment more than now. Directed at his lover.

And Tony was having none of it.

“ _I live on coffee! You can’t take away my life support_!” he’d deflect, fake horror plastered all over his carefully closed off face.

“ _Sure I had breakfast…yesterday_ ,” he’d tease him.

“ _Caaaan’t – stop me nooow_ ,” he’d sing back through the intercom and lock himself up in the workshop for the entire night.

“ _I heeded your every order, oh Captain my Captain. You said aerial support and that’s exactly what I did and who dares say otherwise will have to see me in court_!” he’d dramatically announce in an obvious attempt to joke his way out of the incoming argument - and he’d fail.

Their interactions escalate more often than not into a full blown argument which is then followed by the two ignoring each other for a week, then they apologize and make up, once again looking like a perfect couple in love which lasts for maybe a few days at best before another crises has them glaring, shouting and throwing pieces of furniture at each other and on it goes again. Rinse and repeat. Argue, ignore, make up, argue again. And again. And again…and…Bucky got lost in this strange circle about the fifth time it happened. In two months.

Usually he wouldn’t really concern himself with his two friends’ love life in the least but now he can blame the silent presence that is the Winter Soldier for the sudden interest. It’s not even an interest as much as it is a habit – to observe and gather intel. The Soldier is way too good at observing people and it should really disturb Bucky on all the levels – mostly because the observation phase was the one before the aim phase and the shoot phase.

He doesn’t want to kill Steve, nor Tony – thank God – but strangle them a little bit here and there has definitely crossed his mind in the past few months. Every time they argue. And then every time they get back together, because Bucky knows what’s gonna happen next. And then again and again.

He doesn’t remember this part of dating from the 40’s. You argued a lot in the 40’s with your sweatheart? You broke up. And hell, maybe you’d make up again and it would work. Or not, so back to breaking up it was and that was it. Twice…maaaaaybe three times and done.

Which is where Steve and Tony endlessly confuse him. They love each other, they really obviously do. But Bucky could swear they spend more time hating each other than not. And instead of calling it quits, they just keep on repeating the never-ending cycle of love-argue-hate. And since Steve is his best friend since when and Tony is his friend since…well, since he came into the Tower and the engineer welcomed him with a grin and a cheesy metal hand pun joke, Bucky is just stuck in the whole mess in-between the two.

Stuck with lovey-dovey Steve who turns into an angry, whiney Steve faster than Bruce turns into the Hulk – and stuck with lovey-dovey Tony who turns into a grumpy, miserable Tony just as fast.

And while Bucky has proven to be a great listener, he didn’t quite come up with any sort of solution for his two friends. In the 40’s he’d tell them: “Just break the fuck up already!” but he‘s not in the 40’s, hell he’s not even the Bucky that lived the best years of his life in the 40’s.

He’s in the future and really, he just wants the two people he cares about the most to stop being dicks to each other and be happy. But what can _he_ do? Who the hell is he? He barely remembers his own name sometimes.

 

* * *

And so it dawns on Bucky one briefly calm morning. It’s the lovey-dovey phase and Tony dances into the kitchen with a dreamy smile that zeroes in on Steve and widens impossibly, before he acknowledges Clint with a glare and Bucky with a wink.

There’s a plate full of yummy pancakes, making even his mouth water – and he’s already had four – but Tony just bee-lines for the coffee machine without even giving it a look. Those are Steve-made pancakes. Nobody says no to Steve-made pancakes. Hell, a civil Avenger war had almost been started once when Thor, Bruce and Clint all went for the last remaining one. Those pancakes are to die for…and kill for. And Tony completely ignores them.

And that’s it. Bucky knows that’s it, that’s the trigger right there.

“You gonna join us?” Steve asks and it sounds innocent enough. It’s that already disappointed glint in his sparkly azure eyes that gives him away.

Bucky can see it from miles away and when Tony turns around, his morning cup of coffee safely in hand, there’s no way he doesn’t see it as well. Thing is, where Bucky would just deck the punk in the face, Tony resorts to sarcasm and deflection.

“I was planning to,” he points at the empty chair next to Steve. “Unless this is a closed study group. Assassin study group. When did _you_ become an assassin? You’re too big to be one, sorry to tell you this. Buckaroo over there is too, but he makes up for it when the Soldier makes an appearance which basically makes him go invisible with all the stealth. Not the mention the deadly glare and he’s got one, alright? You on the other hand - ”

“Tony?” Steve stops him from any further rambling and raises a daring eyebrow.

“I’ve got work, so maybe later. You would not believe what Wilson managed to do to the wings during that little squabble with HYDRA last week. He just can’t have nice things, can he?”

It’s times like these that Bucky wishes bringing the Soldier closer to the surface would really make him invisible. He can already see the outcome of this in his head. No matter how many scenarios he pictures, they all end the same way.

With Steve animatedly explaining why breakfast is the most important meal of the day and Tony furiously stomping out of the kitchen to hole himself up in the workshop for the rest of the day – or week. All because of an ignored plate of pancakes. Fucking _pancakes_!

So while Tony goes on with his rambling about the latest battle, Steve’s frown continues to deepen and Clint just continues to eat his pancakes like he’s not even bothered by the pending fallout. And Bucky’s just about had enough of this.

He stuffs the remaining piece of his fifth pancake into his mouth, munches it down in a couple bites, swallows and schools his expression into the stone cold façade that usually makes even Steve pause and wonder if he’s finally snapped back into the HYDRA-made puppet.

Tony notices first though, his rambling coming to a sudden stop, eyes searching Bucky’s. Just one mere second of weariness passes through them, before he somehow decides this is not a Soldier-emergency. He cocks his head a little, as if questioning the sudden change and holds the eye contact without a flinch.

Bucky cracks the murder face with a perfectly practiced murder grin, one even Natasha would be proud of, and he grabs the large plate containing the remaining pancakes. “Guess these are all mine then,” he shrugs and stands, noting Clint’s wide eyes following the overflowing plate of goodies as he picks it up and cradles it to his chest.

Steve’s distracted enough to turn his glare at Bucky for a change, but doesn’t say anything, just looks confused.

“Wha – hey! Give those back!” Clint whines rather than yells, making grabby hands towards Bucky.

He snaps his eyes at Clint, grin gone. “Make me, birdman.”

It’s a small and temporary victory, but Bucky counts it as a victory nonetheless. Because Steve is no longer looking at Tony like he’s about to give him another food lecture – instead looking at Bucky with the ‘is this still Bucky or should I go grab the shield real quick because Soldier alert’ – and Tony is actually staring at him speechless. _Speechless_. And with a certain undeniable longing. No matter how stubborn the engineer is, nobody is immune to the deliciousness that is these holy pancakes.

“They sure would have tasted great with that coffee, but hey…you go have fun in the workshop instead,” he shrugs again and to make it clear just how serious he is about kidnapping these pancakes, he rounds the table and tries to leave the kitchen.

Tries being the keyword, because as soon as Tony’s brain reboots and realizes what’s happening, he blocks the exit with the entirety of his being. “I didn’t say I don’t want any!” he blurts out, eyes narrowed at Bucky.

“You also didn’t say that you do so…now they are all mine. Unless you wanna fight over them, Stark,” he adds, conquering all of Tony’s attention by using his surname – something they both do when bickering or making fun of the other. And he needs Tony to know that’s exactly what this is – fun. Teasing. A joke.

Not some righteous lesson in healthy lifestyle.

“Oh really, _Barnes_ , you’re really going there, aren’t you,” he folds his hands over his puffed out chest and scowls. Or attempts to – it just always looks more like a pout to Bucky. “I’ll have you know I’m gonna have at least half of that plate by the time I’m done with you Winter Wonder. And the other half will go to charity, because your level of greed just went overboard!” he spits out, but there’s no real bite to it. It’s playful, teasing and that’s how Bucky came to like the hard to read engineer in the first place. Through mutual snark.

“Uhm…,” Clint blinks at us, joining Steve in confusion.

“Wow, you dropped the charity bomb already, huh? Tell you what, Stark, I’ll share half of my plate with you if you share half of your afternoon with me. I have some unfinished business with online shopping that needs explaining.”

Tony rolls his eyes when he adds that last bit but immediately extends his hand. “Deal. Now gimme!”

He finds himself grinning at the engineer and with a quick swipe, he divides the humongous portion of pancakes in two and hands the one on a clean plate to Tony.

“Mmmhm,” Tony hums, smelling the pancakes the second he grabs his earned plate. “S’what I thought, Barnes. JARVIS! Fire up the workshop!” he exclaims and walks out of the kitchen without any further comments, but Bucky catches onto the gentle upward tug of his lips.

Definitely a victory.

“Did you just…,” Steve trails off, mouth opening and closing.

The only sentence Bucky expects from his best friend right now would be something along the lines of ‘thank you, Bucks, for defusing another potentially nuclear crisis in my relationship and somehow tricking my stubborn lover into eating a full plate of pancakes for breakfast’ and he doubts Steve’s gonna form words anytime soon.

So he gives him another dismissive shrug, lets himself be amused by now adorably pouting Clint for a second and leaves as well – the pancakes his spoils of war.

When Tony arrives later that afternoon and isn’t mad or even surprised to find Bucky in the middle of a Star Wars marathon and in no mood to learn internet stuff, he joins him on the couch and berates him for even starting with Phantom menace, his features relaxed and the events of the morning completely forgotten.

Maybe he can’t stop the mismatched couple from fighting over little things all the time, but maybe he can execute some serious damage control and hope for the best.

 

* * *

It’s been three days since HYDRA decided to test their newest AI operated drones on New York and the Avengers successfully dispatched to stop it.

The battle wasn’t a walk in the park though – they were wicked fast and firing targeted bullets and even missiles. Steve had it easy with the shield, Tony and Sam evaded the danger fairly well in the air with their gear and the Hulk was almost bored even as the drones targeted him with everything at one point. The ninjavengers – as Tony decided to call Natasha, Clint and Bucky – however were a different story.

Bucky managed to grab a high vantage point early on and sniped the annoying drones from far enough not to be located, luckily for him, but Clint’s own high ground was compromised in seconds and Natasha was entirely out of her element in that fight. Her pistols didn’t really do any real damage to the armoured foes and none of them ever approached close enough for her to use her deadly close combat skills and the Widow Bites.

The two former SHIELD agents got a bit bumped up but not seriously injured, thankfully. It was still enough of a reason for Tony to descend to his workshop slash fortress, refusing to emerge for anything other than to refill his coffee. Steve – the fool – thought it would be swell if he went down there and all but force the engineer to come up for a meal and a proper night’s sleep, but Tony made it very clear that he won’t do that until he finishes all upgrades to the ninjavenger’s gear.

The result was Steve getting kicked out of the workshop with a look of a hurt puppy that doesn’t understand what it did wrong. That’s what Bucky recently found out – Steve genuinely doesn’t understand it when he does something wrong. There’s a short version as well – he just doesn’t understand Tony. Period.

“I just want him to be healthy, is that too much to ask?!” he complains to Bucky later that day, punching the bag with fury.

“Uhuh,” Bucky hums, unconvinced, and it actually makes Steve pause.

“I do! Are you - ”

“S’not what I meant. Of course you want him to be healthy, you want us all to be healthy, right? You’re Captain Mother Hen, it’s in your second nature, punk.”

He glares at him, taking a break from the work-out. “Alright, okay. Is that bad? Like so bad that I have to feel sorry for even askin’ him if he’s feeling okay? Or hungry? Or - ”

“Or if he slept enough, or drank enough water and less coffee, or showered, or did something else than tinker the whole day, or tried a solid meal for once, or talked to someone other than DUM-E, or - ”

“Oh my God, fine!” he stops Bucky, eyes widening. “So it _is_ bad, I get it. But…I just can’t help myself, okay?! I can’t just stand idle while he’s…being like this. It hurts, actually physically hurts me to see him this way!”

Bucky scoffs, glaring at his best friend. “Don’t be so dramatic. I understand your need to mother hen him, I just don’t understand why you gotta be such a jerk about it.”

Steve raises his eyebrows, gaping at him. “Wha…I’m not…I’m _not_ a jerk about it!”

“Uh…yes you are.”

“Am not!”

“Are too. And if you don’t see it, then there’s no helping ya.”

Their mighty leader looks like a suffocating fish for a moment there, trying to form words but nothing comes out. “But…but…what else am I supposed to do?! Wait here for another week, knowing he’s only surviving on caffeine and leftover toasts while thinking it’s still Monday evening?! It’s Thursday!”

“JARVIS has a routine for that, you know? Not to mention years of actual experience you obviously lack? Just let him handle it, stay out of the workshop and you might safe yourself another fake-up.”

Steve is glaring by the time he’s finished, hands posed at his hips. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Nothin’…whatever,” he mumbles and taking his own advice about arguments, he just grabs his stuff and clears the gym before they can have their very own version of the Steve/Tony break ups.

“I can assure you, Sergeant Barnes, that I wouldn’t let Master Tony continue to work if - ”

“I know, JARVIS…I’m not worried. Try and explain it to Steve, though.”

The AI pauses. “I have tried. On many occasions.”

“Of course,” he rolls his eyes, cursing his best friend and his cluelessness. “What’s he doin’? Tony, I mean.”

“Attempting to make everyone’s suits able to withstandheat higher than one thousand degrees Celsius.”

Bucky can’t help the chuckle that escapes him. “Great. I knew it was a bad idea to watch the Incredibles with him last week. Tell him if he’s making my suit red, I will kill him in his sleep.”

JARVIS seems to actually relay the message, because Bucky’s already by the elevator when he speaks again. “He dares you to try – a dare I would sincerely discourage you from, for you own safety.”

“It was a joke, JARVIS.”

“Indeed. But he really _is_ making your suit red. And gold.”

“Okay. I _am_ going to kill him. Take me down there, right now…I’m _not_ going to kill him, but I might send a very intimidating glare at him. Or two if he won’t budge.”

“Very well,” JARVIS answers and Bucky could swear the AI sounds amused.

Bucky and the mad engineer spend hours arguing about how red and gold is so not what you want to wear if you are supposed to be a stealthy ninja and by morning hours, Tony just gives up, has JARVIS assemble the new suits – not red and gold – and decides to go to sleep. And if that small smile Steve sends him during breakfast is any indication, he has managed to steer them clear from yet another crisis.

Why is he so good at this?

 

* * *

Four months into his damage control side-job, Bucky realizes a number of peculiar things.

He spends more time in the workshop than he spends in the gym. It’s not like Tony lets him miss out on working out so he does almost as much heavy lifting there as he does in the gym anyway, what with all the big stuff Tony is building lately. So it’s not a big deal or anything…just something Sam points out one afternoon when he manages to steal the supersoldier for a run around Manhattan.

He talks to Tony more often than he talks to anyone else in the Tower these days. Steve included. There aren’t many topics he’d like to talk about with…anybody. Or so he thought. Tony doesn’t need a topic. He just talks. A _lot_. He talks so much he could talk his way out of a fight if he wanted to. Hell, he probably had at some point. So Bucky suddenly finds himself having conversations about the silliest things like Happy’s new car, Clint getting stuck in the vents all the time because he’s eaten too many pancakes, existential crises of dolphins, what would Obama look like with hair, what would Trump look like without hair, or theorizing about where Natasha’s hiding all her knives or what’s the secret ingredient of Steve’s bagels. And Bucky likes it. He enjoys every second of it. Even Bruce usually zones out during these ramblings with Tony, so he told Bucky straight up how impressed he is that he isn’t stabbing his eardrums with something already and instead joining in the ridiculous discussions.

He also finds himself brining random food and drinks down there. At first, he just did it as a clever ploy to feed the busy man without forcing him to – and it worked – but it’s a habit now, something he does without even thinking about it. Tony never comments on it – despite the initial suspicious frown. All erased when he found Bucky brings coffee as well. They call it the workshop snack time. And considering Bucky eats like a god damn harvester, he’d bring all he could carry so eventually they just installed a fridge in there. Bucky called it convenient. Steve called it impossible until he saw the proof and changed his statement to -  a fucking miracle. His words, not Bucky’s.

And last, but not least, he doesn’t have to initiate as much Steve/Tony damage control as before. Because Steve suddenly ran out of things to be a jerk about. Tony always eats something during workshop snack time, he talks to Bucky rather than just his bots (which makes the poor guys insanely jealous of him) and he goes to sleep more often even if he’s in the middle of a project because he pretty much just talks himself to exhaustion. And at the end of the day, he’s happy. Tony’s happy. Not because he says that he is, but because he looks like it now, too. Everyone has noticed that. He laughs and grins and jokes and schemes…and Bucky’s right there with him.

Only he’s not right there with him. Because Steve is right there with him. And so Bucky realized one thing in particular. Two things, actually.  

First, he is so completely and absolutely in love with Tony Stark.

And secondly, he is so completely and absolutely screwed. Because he’s somehow fallen in love with his best friend’s boyfriend.

 _Not cool, Bucky. So not cool_!

What the hell is he even supposed to do?! He tells Steve and likely loses his best friend. And gets a punch in the face. He tells Tony and not only gets rejected, but will likely lose his friendship too. And gets another punch in the face probably. He can’t tell anyone. He can’t be like this either, he’s gotta _stop_ being like this. How does one stop being in love? Can he google that question?

He googles the question.

And yields no useful results. Other than a curious JARVIS asking why exactly is he googling this question and if he may be of assistance. Bucky came to like JARVIS, but he still thinks he’s creepy. He wouldn’t be surprised if the AI was monitoring his very thoughts as well as his search history.

“I doubt you can help me, JARVIS – no offense, you’re brilliant…I just don’t think anyone can help me right now.”

“Perhaps if you explain the core of the problem to me, I could at least suggest options? You do look rather troubled, if you don’t mind me saying.”

Bordering on panic attacks can do that to a person. “Well…,” he clears his throat, still unsure where to look when talking to JARVIS. “Say you have fallen in love with someone that…you shouldn’t have. What do you do?”

JARVIS thinks about it for a second. Bucky has always wondered how exactly does the AI do that. Think. He doesn’t have a brain, not really, but that sure doesn’t stop him. “Someone you shouldn’t have? As in a minor? A criminal? Enemy of the state?”

“What?! Wha…no! No…it’s not…”

“Then from the law’s point of view I do not - ”

“S’not really a matter of law, JARVIS.”

“Ah. I see. So…someone already married, perhaps?”

Bucky tilts his head in thought and nods. “Yeah. Sure, might as well be. I guess.”

“Happily married?”

“I supp…wait, what? How does that even matter?! I’m tellin’ ya I’m in love with someone who’s already in love with someone else and this is what you ask me?!”

JARVIS pauses for an uncomfortably long minute and Bucky wonders if this conversation is overloading his core. “I must admit the concept of love is slightly abstract for me. Most of my experience comes out of observation and pop culture.”

“Are you serious?!” he blurts out, but shakes his head immediately. “Sorry…but no. I doubt this can work out the way it does in the movies.”

“Not even Twilight, I suppose?”

“You’re just makin’ fun of me now, aren’t ya?” he squints at the ceiling.

“I would never, Sergeant! Especially not since the situation is clearly upsetting for you.”

“They’re happy, okay?! Happier than ever, actually. And I don’t wanna hurt either of ‘em just ‘cause my brain went haywire and decided I’m in love with T…anyway. I’ll just…ignore it. Let go. There’s nothing else I can do,” he sighs and when JARVIS has no answer for that, he lets himself collapse fully into the sofa with a groan.

It’s the best decision to make, he knows that. No matter how much his very soul begs him to be a selfish asshole and go pursue his feelings and steal the man of his most recent dreams from his best friend. That’s not the kinda man he is and definitely not the kinda man Tony deserves.

He’ll just stay away from them.

 

* * *

 

It was easier said than done. Bucky didn’t realize just how much time he spent with Tony and Steve on a daily basis so when he stopped hanging around, they noticed immediately. But he was determined not to get in the way and quietly sort out his issues in seclusion of his own making, no matter what. And if that meant employing all his remaining Winter Soldier stealth skills to evade his suspicious best friend and one very resourceful engineer every chance he got, he’d do it.

He still interacted with them – they _are_ his friends and there’re only so many times he gets to ignore Captain America before the spangled superhero starts interrogating him – but he no longer initiated the contacts. No more coming down to the workshop whenever he wanted. No more early morning musings by the coffeemaker. No more tricking Tony into watching bad movies in the afternoon.

No more damage control.

In hindsight, Bucky saw it coming. He was in fact equally surprised and impressed that it took as long as it did. Somehow, Steve and Tony managed to stretch out the entire argument phase through two weeks instead of an hour or a day. It escalated, little by little. One unwarranted Steve comment at a time. One fake Tony smile at a time. Until they all but glared at each other during team movie nights, sitting as far away from each other as the room allowed. Until they barely talked without sounding angry.

Until they argued so seriously Steve just snapped.

Nobody hears the argument as it happens, but what it leaves in its wake is enough for all present Avengers to wonder just what the hell happened this time.

Tony is a flurry of flailing limbs, muttered curses and unshed tears as he bolts from the outside terrace into the common lounge and straight towards the elevator to once again begin his descent into the depths of the workshop and Steve…Steve is something else. The ever so composed Captain glares death at everyone in his path – _including_ Bucky. He has seen the man angry before and this was not him being angry. He is practically fuming with cold and detached fury that just so isn’t like him at all.

It’s a very common Winter Soldier look, one that tips everyone off that Bucky’s not all there at the moment, that he could lose it any second with the Soldier almost spilling over the edge of his control. Seeing one Steve Rogers look like that is not short of scary when knowing he does not in fact have any remnants of a HYDRA programmed assassin in his brain.

It’s not until Bucky notices Natasha’s hands twitching and Clint gravitating toward the nearest exit, that he concludes he’s not alone in that thought.

“Hey, man,” Sam approaches the livid Captain, hands raised in a placating manner, but to no veil.

Steve shakes his head, left hand raised in a simple warning – _dare come any closer and I will dissect you into molecules_. He sends one more glare their way before storming out of the room, heading upstairs and Bucky could swear the glare turned into a laser of burning hate when it landed on him in particular.

Once the coast is clear, the team breathes a sigh of relief in unison and Bucky finds himself staring into the hallway the two men have disappeared into moments ago. Back to being confused it is.

“Here we go again,” Clint rolls his eyes, diving head-first into the sofa. “I give it a week this time,” he mumbles into the pillow.

“I dunno, man. This looked bad,” Rhodey says, giving Bucky a fleeting look of concern and…something else.

“Two weeks, then,” Natasha shrugs.

“It looked _really_ bad this time, actually,” Bruce adds, his expression weary.

“Yeah,” Bucky whispers in agreement, exchanging a look with the doctor and the Colonel both.

 

* * *

Two weeks later, phase two was still not over. The two continued to fiercely avoid each other, keeping their interaction to a bare, professional minimum.

Tony spends most of his time locked up in the workshop, letting nobody in – with the exception of Miss Potts, who’s basically broken in at one point – and Steve spends his days moping about in his room or with Sam. Bucky tried to approach him many times to find out what happened but after a couple of days it’s become clear to Bucky that his best friend is avoiding the hell out of him. 

And that can’t be good.

Did he do something? Was he too obvious? He’s got no idea and it’s driving him mad.

So when he wakes up one morning after an especially vivid nightmare feeling not quite himself, he can easily blame it on the recent sense of unsteadiness. The Winter Soldier is more Winter than Soldier these days. With no HYDRA, no Handlers and no missions, his coming up to the surface is rather silent and harmless. He would usually just stand or sit around without a purpose until his control slips back to Bucky. Should someone walk in on him in this state, he would glare and carefully observe the intruder, but never attack them. Not even Natasha, who always whips up a dagger or two just for show – a silent threat the Soldier understands very well.

But not today.

Today the Soldier is feeling adventurous. So he gets up from the rustled bed and leaves the room, not even bothering to put on a shirt. Or shoes. Bucky would roll his eyes if he could – the HYDRA-installed assassin could easily slice through a house full of enemies but take away his murderous side and he’s pretty inapt.

He strides over to the elevator, goes inside and to Bucky’s utmost surprise – and horror – he presses the workshop button without a second thought.

Nope, no way he’s going down there. He tells the Soldier as much, even arguing that he won’t be allowed inside anyway so might as well go somewhere else, but as always the Soldier ignores him completely. The elevator stops, but the doors remain closed.

 _Told ya_ , he snickers at the Soldier.

The assassin glares at the door like it’s his worst adversary and doesn’t move to press any other button. Patient as ever, he waits. But waiting won’t do much h –

And the door opens.

Now it’s Bucky’s turn to stare. Did the Soldier just force-willed the doors to open with just his glare alone?!

He takes a few steps inside the workshop that is a buzz of activity even at this hour, eyes zeroing in on Tony who is watching their advance with squinted eyes.

“Ah. I see,” he glances up at the ceiling – something he instinctively does whenever he’s addressing JARVIS. “ _Winter is coming_ , J? Seriously? I’m cutting you off from Netflix, just so you know. Your obsession with pop culture references has just gone overboard,” he scolds the AI.

“Very well, Sir. But you cannot deny how fitting it was.”

“Fitting? The word you’re looking for is _old_ , JARVIS,” he scoffs, eyes landing back on the Winter Soldier, who stopped in front of the workbench Tony’s sitting behind. “Hey, Soldier. Any… _particular_ reason you’ve wandered down into my lair wearing just your pajama pants? If you need someone to tuck you in, go ask Bruce. He knows the best bedtime stories.”

The Soldier scrutinizes Tony in a way he would usually scrutinize his target, but Bucky dares to hope that’s not the case here. Once he’s satisfied with his observation, he walks over to the fridge, grabs an opened carton of milk and chugs it down in one take. Great. Who knows how long that thing’s been opened in there?!

Tony chuckles behind him. “Don’t worry, it’s from yesterday. You should be a-okay.”   

Bucky was so occupied with the Soldier’s nonsensical actions and the fact he’s been let inside the workshop that he didn’t realize he’s back in control and has said his thoughts out loud, apparently. He _does_ roll his eyes this time and discards the now empty carton into the trash.

“Does that happen often? The Soldier taking you for a spin around the Tower in the middle of the night to feast on milk?” Tony asks and it sounds amused. “Half naked?” he adds.

Turning around, Bucky sees the engineer is indeed smiling. He’s missed that smile. Hell…he’s missed Tony. “N’t really,” he blurts out. “He’s not normally this…active.”

“Sure likes his milk.”

“He’s weird like that.”

Tony shrugs, smile widening. “ _You_ sure like your milk.”

He does, admittedly. “I’m weird like that. And you’re even weirder for noticing.”

“Busteeeed. What can I say? I’m good at noticing things. Speaking of which, I’ve been noticing a lot of things lately,” he says, the smile fading.

“Uhuh? You mean while hiding down here, locking us all out and avoiding Steve?” He doesn’t mean to sound harsh or defensive, but it still comes out like that.

Tony winces at the mention of the other supersoldier, but otherwise remains passive. “You mean kinda like you’ve been hiding in your room avoiding everyone the past two months?” he deflects with practiced ease. Him and Steve have already mastered this ping-pong style of conversation throughout their relationship and Bucky’s not sure he wants to join the club.

So he just admits to it. “Yeah. Kinda like that.”

Tony nods and suddenly looks small, like he’d rather be a little piece of dust lying on the floor than a man that usually fills a room with his presence. “Wanna tell me something about it?”

“Do _you_ wanna tell me something about _this_?” Bucky answers in kind…only doesn’t. Because he’s back to being defensive, while Tony asked the question quietly, so unlike his loud and confident self. As if afraid of it. Or the answer to it. He cringes, walking a bit closer to the engineer again so he can lean against one of the opposite workbenches, that has been turned into a bar table at one point. He shivers at the touch of the cold surface and is suddenly all too aware of his state of undress and the way it makes him feel.

Exposed. Inappropriate. Out of place.

Opposite of him, Tony seems less interested in his naked torso and more interested in whatever is on his mind. His brows are crinkled together in a way that suggests he’s solving a particularly tough science problem, but Bucky notices there’s no open project on his StarkPad, no half-built gadget anywhere, even the bots are nowhere to be seen.

“Steve and I broke up,” he blurts out, his gazed fixed on something on the floor near Bucky’s foot. It’s not a sad statement, he doesn’t look sad. He’s nervous. Why the hell does Tony goddamn Stark look nervous?!

Bucky decides he can put his avoid and forget mission aside for the sake of lighting up the mood down here. Se he goes for casual, teasing, something he’d say few months ago. “We kinda figured, yeah. S’not really hot news or anythin’. Clint and Natasha lost their bets on your makeup date, by the way. Gotta admit it’s a bit overdue. Wanna talk about it?”

It’s a friendly offer, Bucky tells himself. That’s what friends do. They talk about their problems and heartbreaks…unless those heartbreaks concern them, as is Bucky’s case.

Tony raises a curious eyebrow and something returns into his eyes. In fact, his whole face sort of lights up. “Yeah, I do. That’s what I’m doing, right?” he says, folding his hands defensively on his chest. The words have a bite to them, but his smile is all back again. “We broke up.”

Bucky is utterly lost all of a sudden. “Uh…yeah. You guys tend to do that a lot.”

“We really did, didn’t we,” he frowns just a little, thinking about it. “Well, it’s over. No more breaking up, making up. We’re…breaking up the breaking up. However you wanna call it. Clint and Natasha lost their bets, well guess what? Bruce and Rhodey are gonna lose theirs too because we are never ever coming back together. And I swear to God, JARVIS, if you’re thinking about Swifting me again, I will personally decommission you!” he adds to the ceiling.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Sir.”

“Yeah, right. Last week DUM-E made me spill my coffee, so I told him ‘look what you made me do!’ and this snarky asshole blasted that crap song immediately!”

“It was very fitting.”

“I’m gonna reprogram whatever is making you do things on the impulse of them being fitting! Seriously, I’m not even - ”

“Tony!” he stops the engineer mid sentence, before he completely derails from the conversation. Not making up ever again? Those are some strong words and Bucky needs some strong answers. He…he wants them to be happy. And they were happy. Mostly. Sometimes. Right?

“Right…sorry. Breaking up. Not making up. There. We talked about it. Happy?”

“Uh…no? What happened? You argued…again, but you’ve been arguing like that since I’ve come to live here! T’was never a big deal…I guess. I mean, no matter what you argued about you just sorted it out so - ”

“Yeah, we’re not sorting this one out, trust me.”

“Why not?!” he flails, his metal hand sending a brandy glass flying across the table haphazardly.

Tony laughs. _Laughs_. Actual, chest-heaving, musical laugh. And Bucky really is lost just then. “Why not? Well, let me see. There were some really big signs for me…like when I realized I’d rather hang out here than with him. When I realized I have nothing to talk to him about…mostly because he tunes out whatever I’m saying. True, it’s nonsensical babbling most of the time, but that’s not an excuse. Him turning every conversation into a fight wasn’t helping either and hell…we haven’t even slept in one bed for months! Haven’t…kissed in months! Because…it’s gone, okay? Whatever it was that we had? It’s just…not there anymore. And to be honest? It hasn’t been there for a while. Don’t get me wrong, I…like Steve. He’s an okay guy, when he’s not being an ass, but he’s just not the guy for me. I…don’t love him. I don’t love him,” he repeats a bit breathlessly.

Bucky was forming a reply throughout Tony’s speech, meaningful and clever, but his brain might as well have gotten wiped again at the end of it.

Whatever his face twists into, it makes Tony smirk. “Then again, falling in love with your boyfriend’s best friend is kinda the last straw in a relationship, right?” he grimaces and it takes Bucky’s wiped out brain a while to catch up with what he’s just said. “Now _that_ was the biggest sign for me. I realized that and promptly crapped my pants because how the hell do you tell good guy Steve that you have fallen for his long lost best friend? And then while I was devising a master plan of how to break it down for Steve and then maybe kinda make my moves, you started avoiding us…avoiding me…and I thought I fucked up already…somehow. It’d be so me to fuck up something that’s not even going on yet, you have no idea. But JARVIS assured me that’s not the case and…then the whole thing kinda blew up when Steve tried his best interrogation technique…if you were wondering why he’s in a perma pissed off mode right now, this is why,” Tony explains, meeting Bucky’s staring gaze without wavering.

For a while, Bucky wonders if he’s back in the Soldier mode. He gets light-headed and sort of hazy whenever that happens and that’s exactly how he’s feeling. But he’s still himself. The Soldier is contently tucked in deep inside his mind now that he’s had his fun and a whole carton of milk, so that lightheadedness has a whole different cause altogether.

Might have something to do with Tony saying he’s in love with him.

“Uh…you okay there?” Tony asks, bringing him out of his haze.

Yep. Definitely has something to do with that.

“Yeah…I’m ‘kay,” he nods absentmindedly.

Tony chuckles, cocking his head to the side. “You’re smiling.”

“Yeah…guess I am.”

“So…,” he sighs, suddenly looking unsure.

Bucky clears his throat and looks upwards. “So, JARVIS snitched on me, huh?”

“In his defense, it’s in his code to be that way…to lend a helping hand when he sees anyone in distress. We’re gonna have to talk about privacy in our next lesson, J!” Tony squints upward.

“Of course, Sir. And my apologies if I have…overstepped.”

It didn’t sound apologetic at all…and Bucky didn’t really care. “I’m glad you overstepped, JARVIS. I mean…if I understand the situation correctly.”

Tony snorts, shaking his head. “If you under…well you better understand! You b - ”

“Dinner tomorrow? Or…somethin’? That involves me wearing a shirt?” Bucky suggests and smirks.

“Sure…although I can’t say that I mind,” Tony winks at him and sighs again. “About Steve…”

“I’ll talk to the punk. His avoiding techniques are not nearly as good as the Soldier’s stalking techniques.”

That startles a laugh out of the engineer. “Eh…wow, okay. I would…love to see that, but what I wanted to say is um…JARVIS?”

“About that, Sergeant, I may or may not have also…overstepped there. A little bit.”

“Yeah, we’re talking about that, too, J. Anyway…Steve’s coming back around…he’s still mad, but apparently not mad enough to ignore us for the rest of our lives because…well, because…”

“’Cause we fell in love with each other?”

“Exactly…yeah, how did that happen again?”

“It’s uh really long story,” Bucky shrugs, not missing the light sparkling in Tony’s eyes the way they only ever do when he’s happy. And damn if Bucky isn’t making it his mission to keep it that way forever.

“You can tell me all about it tomorrow. Over that dinner.”

“It’s a date,” Bucky answers, all the nightmares from earlier this night forgotten.

_-The End_


End file.
